Pitḫana

Pitḫana was a king of Kuššara and Kaniš / Neša in the early 18th century BC. Chr. ( Middle Chronology ). He is considered to be the first traditional Hittite ruler.

Lore

Pitḫana is mentioned in ancient Assyrian documents from Kaniš (Kültepe) together with his rabi simmiltim Anitta . The ancient Ethite Anitta text ( CTH 1) reports on his conquest of the most important Anatolian trading center of Kaniš / Neša at the time :

“The king of Kussar came down from the city with great power and took Nesa by force at night. He seized the king of Nesa, but he did not harm any of the inhabitants of Nesa, [but] made [them] mothers (and) fathers. "

- Anitta-Text (CTH1), 5-9

discussion

Pitḫana was the ruler of Kuššara, which is probably to be found east of Kültepe between the Kizilirmak river and the Taurus mountains . The name Pitḫana belongs to a pre-Indo-European language class, as the phonetic group / tḫ / does not appear in the Hittite hereditary vocabulary.

The statement that Pitḫana made the people of Neša "mothers and fathers" is unique in cuneiform texts. This concluded that there was an ethnic bond between the Indo-European population group of Neša and the royal house of Kuššara. However, Bryce sees it more as an effort to stylize Pitḫana as a caring ruler. Neša became the residence of his son Anitta after it was conquered by Pitḫana.

literature

Trevor Bryce : The Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 1998, ISBN 0-19-924010-8 .

Web links

Anitta text from Titus, University of Frankfurt

Individual evidence

^ Translation according to Volkert Haas : Die Hittitische Literatur. Texts, style, motifs. de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 2006, ISBN 3-11-018877-5 , p. 29, (on Google books ).
↑ Ilya Yakubovich: Sociolinguistics of the Luvian Language (= Brill's Studies in Indo-European Languages and Linguistics. 2). Brill, Leiden et al. 2010, ISBN 978-90-04-17791-8 , p. 262.
↑ Trevor Bryce: The kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 1998, ISBN 0-19-924010-8 , p. 38.

predecessor	Office	successor
Waršama	King of Kaniš 18th century BC Chr.	Anitta

personal data
SURNAME	Pitḫana
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Hittite ruler
DATE OF BIRTH	18th century BC BC or 17th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	18th century BC BC or 17th century BC Chr.

[1] Translation according to Volkert Haas : Die Hittitische Literatur. Texts, style, motifs. de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 2006, ISBN 3-11-018877-5 , p. 29, (on Google books ).

[2] Ilya Yakubovich: Sociolinguistics of the Luvian Language (= Brill's Studies in Indo-European Languages and Linguistics. 2). Brill, Leiden et al. 2010, ISBN 978-90-04-17791-8 , p. 262.

[3] Trevor Bryce: The kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 1998, ISBN 0-19-924010-8 , p. 38.